{"id":37024,"date":"2019-09-11T14:16:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T18:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/?p=37024"},"modified":"2019-09-11T14:16:24","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T18:16:24","slug":"sometimes-we-forget-that-manhattan-is-an-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/?p=37024","title":{"rendered":"Sometimes We Forget That Manhattan Is An Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday The New York Post<\/a> posted an article about some of the unsung heroes of September 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

The article reports:<\/p>\n

On this year\u2019s anniversary, one relatively unsung 9\/11 story deserves retelling. It is the story of ordinary citizens who risked their lives to save more than a half-million people trapped at the southern tip of lower Manhattan \u2014 a rescue effort that would become the largest water evacuation in recorded history.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the first of the Twin Towers collapsed, there was widespread confusion and panic. We were suddenly at war. We didn\u2019t know what was coming next. Tunnels, bridges and highways leading out of the island of Manhattan were shut down.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There had never been a plan for how to conduct a mass evacuation from the most populous city in America \u2014 that was unthinkable. For the first time in more than 100 years, the only way on or off the island was by boat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And then unexpected saviors came to the rescue: American mariners.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It started slowly as random boats and ferries already in the water voluntarily turned around and started loading people, as many as possible. It was instinct at work \u2014 patriotic Americans not wanting to leave each other stranded and vulnerable to whatever was coming next.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the initial fleet of boats could fit only so many. The US Coast Guard, our nation\u2019s maritime first responders, knew it had to organize. Officers got on the radio and called out to all nearby mariners: \u201cCome help!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

And come they did. Tugs, party boats, water taxis \u2014 if it could float, it was steaming toward lower Manhattan, despite the risk of additional terror attacks and exposure to smoke and debris.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These mariners simply were not going to leave anyone behind. They loaded up as many individuals as could fit, dropped them off and sailed right back to the island, over and over again, all day and into the night.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In all, nearly 500,000 people were evacuated that day, more than the 339,000 rescued at Dunkirk. Some 150 different vessels, crewed by more than 800 American mariners, improvised and successfully executed this extraordinary feat of bravery.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Long-standing maritime traditions \u2014 safety, commitment, courage \u2014 guided these heroes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Long-standing maritime traditions \u2014 safety, commitment, courage \u2014 guided these heroes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Men like Vincent Ardolino of Brooklyn, captain of the Amberjack V, who passed away last year but whose stirring words can still be heard in the 2011 Tom Hanks-narrated documentary \u201cBoatlift: An Untold Tale of 9\/11 Resilience\u201d as he recalls what could\u2019ve been his final farewell to his wife: \u201cI\u2019ve got to go do something \u2026 I\u2019m going to take the Amberjack up into the city and help \u2026 I have to do what I have to do \u2026 Even if I rescue one person, that\u2019s one person less that will suffer or die.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

America\u2019s maritime industry is accustomed to working in quiet anonymity to protect the nation and keep the economy moving. Yet, to those familiar with us, the actions of men like Vincent Ardolino on Sept. 11, 2011, come as no surprise.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In times of war and in times of peace, the American mariner will step up to serve without thinking twice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And on that awful day, their aid \u2014 like that of so many brave first-responders \u2014 proved indispensable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fact is, this nation is blessed with many heroes willing to rush to help their neighbor<\/a>, even at risk to themselves and without any desire to be singled out for their heroism.<\/strong>
\nOur mariners demonstrated that with crystal clarity on 9\/11. As a maritime nation, we should count ourselves fortunate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are grateful to have such people as our fellow Americans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday The New York Post posted an article about some of the unsung heroes of September 11, 2001. The article reports: On this year\u2019s anniversary, one relatively unsung 9\/11 story deserves retelling. It is the story of ordinary citizens who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9401,11931,845,523,657,4289,8321],"class_list":["post-37024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-9401","tag-coast-guard","tag-lower-manhattan","tag-marine","tag-new-york-post","tag-september-11","tag-the-new-york-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37025,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37024\/revisions\/37025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}